San Miguel Pure Foods Kids Kitchen Camp: Bloggers' Kids Series

What do you do when you're kid wants to help, say, cook with you? Do you hushed them out or encouraged them to help you? Stir the soup or sprinkle the cheese maybe? Well, it really depends on their age. For school aged kids, cooking can be one of their most anticipated household chore/bonding time with mom and dad!

I remember when I was little, my mom used to encouraged me and my sister to go grocery shopping with her - checking if the items on sale is on our list, roaming around the aisle with our phone's calculator app open, and compare brands and products, and when there's still a budget, try out what's new or what's hot on the shop.

She used to encourage us to go help in preparing our food. Wash the veggies and fruits, peel, chop, mince, etc. She also patiently teach us how to stir, simmer, saute. She used to tell me avoid frequently opening the lid to check, which I can't help myself with - I like seeing the sauce sizzle and boil. And now that I'm the mom, I have the same sentiments in kids trying to open the lid to check in every possible chance they can have.

San Miguel Pure Foods (SMPF) knows the important benefits of encouraging kids to get their hands dirty in the kitchen, and last Thursday, May 3, 2019, they invited parent blogger's kids at the 28th floor Kitchen Studio of the Makati Diamond Residences (MDR) to get their hands busy in cooking dishes they would definitely enticed themselves with and the entire family, too! The little chefs-in-the-making got busy at the Kids Kitchen Camp organized by the San Miguel Pure Foods (SMPF) Culinary Center in collaboration with Makati Diamond Residences.

On its 24th year, the annual SMPF Culinary Center including this kid’s kitchen camp activity is held while introducing various SMPF products that can help in easing preparation while enhancing skills of young budding cooking enthusiasts, instilling love and appreciation for food and passion for cooking.

“If kids are much more involved in food preparation, then they truly get encouraged to eat more, which promotes good nutrition, plus they learn cooking early, a very important life skill,” says Llena Tan-Arcenas, the Culinary Services Manager of San Miguel Pure Foods.

The event held at the Makati Diamond Residences was jam-packed with giddy-excited kids with their parents as they are welcomed by the very own chefs of Makati Diamond Hotel alongside the SMPF chefs.

Several tables are aligned with ingredients for the little chefs to use to make five scrumptious yet kid-friendly recipes.

Nachos Afritada - using Purefoods Chicken Afritada and Magnolia Cheddar Cheese. This is my first time to try using Purefoods Chicken Afritada instead of the usual salsa for nachos and it’s unexpectedly delightful especially when sprinkled with Magnolia Cheddar Cheese on top!

Pulled Pork Tacos - made from Purefoods Pulled Pork BBQ Pinoy Style and Magnolia Cheezee Squeeze. What I used as salsa for nachos usually goes well with tacos, too. This is also our first time to try pulled pork as the star of our taco ingredients! Pulled pork with its tender texture and juicy state is really hard to pull off, not to mention, time consuming. Well, not anymore! You can just pop Purefoods Pulled Pork BBQ Pinoy Style and viola! Meaty tacos for servings! With it’s BBQ Pinoy Style sauce, the tacos are sweet and savory, soft to chew and not dry to swallow! Perfect source of protein for growing kids.

Quick Meaty Spaghetti - using Dari Creme, Monterey Ground Pork, Purefoods Tender Juicy Hotdogs Jumbo and Magnolia Cheezee. The Dari Crème melting in the pot will surely tug hungry kids at your side! Let them slice the hotdogs using plastic knives and allow them to grate Magnolia Cheezee and drizzle it on top of the steaming pasta.

Homemade spaghetti are the best when Purefoods Tender Juicy Hotdogs are used, we also use Purefoods Tender Juicy Hotdogs in our Chicken Macaroni Sopas.

Flower Pot Cakes - made from Magnolia Devil's Food Cake, La Pacita Graham Crackers, Magnolia Cream Cheese and Magnolia All Purpose Cream. Dessert is one of the most awaited dish of the kids. The Flower Pot Cakes doesn’t only teach kids how to prepare eye-catching dessert, they also learn how to “garden” by planting flower candy in the soil made of cake, very fun indeed!

Classic Chicken Tinola - simplified by using Magnolia 3-way Chicken Ginger-Based. The Magnolia 3-way Chicken is the secret weapon of busy moms trying to pull a delicious dinner even when time is not on their side.

The fun and talented chefs of SMPF Culinary Center under the supervision of Pamela 'Chef Pam' Obieta together with MDR chefs conducted the event.

While our kids were busy, we were able to document and witness how our kids enjoyed the kitchen camp, we even got the chance to taste and enjoy snacks prepared by MDR, which includes

Arroz Caldo made from Magnolia 3-Way Chicken Ginger-Based and 

Chicken and Pulled Pork Pie using Magnolia Chicken and Purefoods Pulled Pork BBQ Pinoy Style.

Exposing kids to scratch cooking will help them develop not just a mature palate but also a hunger, a taste for fresh, wholesome ingredients! In fact, the earlier they’d be accustom to nutritious cooking, the less likely they’ll acquire craving for fast food. Build your kid’s passion for cooking as early as possible because the earlier they learn, the easier for us moms (especially those like me who doesn’t have any househelp).

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Let cooking be one of your quality time with the family especially school aged kids so that they’ll know how, what’s on their plate, appreciate what’s served to them and be equipped for the adulting world, after all, cooking is a life skill one should master.

Thank you so much San Miguel Pure Foods for this very fun-filled event.

What’s your current favourite dish you cook with your child?

PS. Don’t forget to wash hands before and after cooking. 😊